Tade, Herbie

On Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1935, UT played the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Herbie Tade, a junior standout offensive center and defensive linebacker, playing from his defensive linebacker position, plugged a hole created by the Wildcat offensive line. He met Kentucky’s runner head-on and did not get up. His skull was fractured during the collision, and he sustained brain damage. For several days, it was unclear whether he would live, but he did. UT sent him to neurosurgeons in several cities, but no help could be offered. He could neither move nor speak, but his mind was alert, and he was a sports fan from radio and television and newspapers that were read to him. UT paid all his expenses during the 35 years he lived following the accident. He died on November 23, 1970.